Initial Kosovo Refugees Arrive To Warm U.s. Greeting

FORT DIX, N.J. — The 450 Kosovar refugees who arrived Wednesday afternoon took their first steps in the United States on a red ``carpet'' painted onto the tarmac at McGuire Air Force Base.

That was enough to move a leathery-faced elderly man to balance himself on his cane and softly place a hand on his heart as he faced the welcoming line of military personnel. Kosovar children and teenagers waved and made peace signs.

With that spirit of welcoming, military and government officials received the weary, but smiling refugees after their 13-hour flight from Macedonia. The group of jeans-clad teenagers, mothers clutching children's hands and frail senior citizens are the first of 20,000 expected to arrive in coming weeks.

Their charter flight arrived just after 4 p.m. at the Air Force base adjacent to Fort Dix, the Army base where the refugees will stay until they are processed for immigration and placed in new homes.

Military officials said the refugees were tired and some were airsick.

Wednesday's group consisted of about 250 adults, 195 children from 3 to 18 and nine infants. Among the refugees was a woman in late-term pregnancy who was sent to a hospital for examination.

``Our goal is to provide an environment that is comfortable,'' said Lavinia Limon, director of the U.S. Health and Human Services' office of refugee resettlement. She said the refugees will be able to apply for U.S. citizenship, but most have expressed a desire to return to their homeland.

``We hope they will grow stronger here, so when they return [to Kosovo], they can help rebuild their homeland,'' Limon said.

Kosovar refugees will continue to arrive in the U.S. at the rate of about 2,000 a week.

Like Wednesday's arrivals, those from the most crowded camps in Macedonia were given priority status and allowed to come to the United States without having to have family members or sponsors waiting for them in this country.

``They were brought here because of their willingness to come here and because they were deemed vulnerable,'' said Marguerite Rivera Houze of the Department of State's Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration. ``Their situations, either in camps or in others' homes, were not sustainable.''

The priority cases will arrive at Fort Dix to complete the requisite health exams and immigration process before being sent to nine cities, including Hartford, where refugee resettlement organizations will find new homes for them.

Another category of refugees, those who are being sponsored by relatives in the United States, will begin arriving Saturday at John F. Kennedy Airport in New York City. Because their status in Macedonia was not as dire as the first group's, they were processed there and can be picked up immediately by relatives or sponsors, Houze said.

Hundreds of military personnel have been preparing the Fort Dix barracks, transforming them into a ``village'' that will house refugees for the two to four weeks they will stay.

Known as Task Force Open Arms, soldiers converted a dining hall into a 24-hour medical clinic; created play areas for children, filling them with donated toys and picture books; and put up signs in both Albanian and English. More than 30 interpreters, a handful of Muslim clerics and trauma counselors will be available.

The refugees will take classes on adapting to U.S. life and culture, as well as receive English lessons.

Because the majority of the refugees are Muslim, prayer rooms have been set up and no pork or alcohol will be available on the village premises.

The village has been painstakingly designed to have the welcoming feel of Ellis Island, said Brig. Gen. Mitchell M. Zais, commander of Task Force Open Arms.

``We would like them [Kosovar refugees] welcomed to America as we would have hoped so many of our grandparents and great-grandparents would have been welcomed at Ellis Island,'' Zais said.

For the soldiers from Fort Dix and Fort Bragg, N.C., Wednesday was an emotional day.

``Don't get me teary-eyed,'' acting Sgt. Maj. Beverley Cooper said when asked how she felt that morning. ``Having a child, I know how I would feel if I were displaced from my home or separated from my family. . . . To be able to do something, that helps.''

Two or three of the families arriving Wednesday and on a second flight Friday are expected to settle in the Hartford area, said Bob Snyder, director of migration and refugee services for Catholic Charities in Hartford.

Snyder said he may travel to Fort Dix to pick them up. He is searching for apartments in Hartford or East Hartford to house the families.

``We're just preparing for the families this week, trying to get their apartments ready,'' Snyder said.

After the 450 refugees got off the plane, they boarded buses that took them to a reception given by first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton. She told the refugees that while America will make them as comfortable as possible, it will not give up its efforts to enable them to return to a safe Kosovo.

The refugees cheered loudly for Clinton, chanting, ``Clin-ton! Clin- ton!'' and ``USA! USA!'' as she departed.